food waste

A shopper's cart at WeFood. The supermarket sells items once destined for the trash bin at a discount.

Denmark's New Grocer Is Selling Expired Food, And It's A Hit

2:59pm February 29, 2016

by Sidsel Overgaard

Shoppers are flocking to a Copenhagen supermarket hawking perfectly edible but unsalable food items at a steep discount to the general public. It's the country's latest effort to fight food waste.

Brother William Valle of the Institute of the Incarnate Word in Chillum, Md., loads potatoes onto his cart at the Capitol Area Food Bank, in Washington, D.C. A new government initiative seeks to engage faith-based groups on food waste — for instance, by

Thou Shalt Not Toss Food: Enlisting Religious Groups To Fight Waste

1:59pm January 18, 2016

by Maria Godoy

The Environmental Protection Agency is launching an initiative to engage religious leaders of all faiths to reduce food waste. Many groups have already embraced the challenge as a moral imperative.

Some bars are blending leftover wine with fruit to make sangria.

To Go Green, Bars Try To Reuse Their Booze

2:57pm December 11, 2015

by Alastair Bland

Bartenders are finding novel ways to reuse leftover wine and spent ingredients from cocktail-making. It's just one part of a nascent movement toward sustainability in the industry.

Cascara is made by brewing dried coffee cherries, which typically would have otherwise ended up as compost. "We have been throwing away this perfectly good coffee fruit for a long time, and there's no real reason for it, because it tastes delicious," says

Cascara 'Tea': A Tasty Infusion Made From Coffee Waste

11:00am December 01, 2015

by Murray Carpenter

Hot or cold, in a soda, hot toddy or beer — people are finding all sorts of ways to imbibe cascara. It's a caffeinated, tea-like drink with a fruity flavor made from dried coffee cherries.

For six months, filmmakers Grant Baldwin and Jen Rustemeyer vowed to eat only food entering the waste stream. They document their experiment, and the problem of food waste, in Just Eat It.

In 'Just Eat It,' Filmmakers Feast For 6 Months On Discarded Food

6:24pm November 18, 2015

by NPR Staff

Roughly 133 billion pounds of food go uneaten each year — much of it still edible. So for a half-year, the two filmmakers behind Just Eat It vowed to eat nothing but food entering the waste stream.

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"Asparagus Shortcake," a leftover creation from <em>The Cook's Book</em> published in 1908.

The History Of Our Love-Hate-Love Relationship With Leftovers

10:47pm October 14, 2015

by NPR Staff

Stretching a meal over several days was once a necessity. And in the 1940s, leftovers were a culinary art. Historian Helen Zoe Veit dishes on America's complicated relationship with leftovers.

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A fruit dealer in the Kashmir region of India separates rotten apples from freshly harvested apples.

World News

Even Poor Countries End Up Wasting Tons Of Food

6:23pm September 28, 2015

by Roff Smith

It's not just a developed world problem. One of the authors of Food Foolish talks about the problem in low-income countries, where food often decays in the fields or spoils on the way to market.

Most fruits and vegetables — particularly after being cut — store better in an airtight container, Gunders says. And it's best to store them in see-through containers so we don't forget about them.

Don't Toss That Sour Milk! And Other Tips To Cut Kitchen Food Waste

10:57pm September 23, 2015

by Allison Aubrey

The typical American family tosses out some $1,500 of food yearly. From smarter fridge packing to sauteing soggy lettuce, a new book is full of tips to rescue edibles from landing in the trash.

The government's first ever national target to reduce food waste will encourage farmers to donate more of their imperfect produce to the hungry.

It's Time To Get Serious About Reducing Food Waste, Feds Say

11:44am September 17, 2015

by Allison Aubrey

The amount Americans throw away annually would fill a 100-story building 44 times, says Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The USDA and the EPA have issued a challenge to cut that in half by 2030.

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Copenhagen, Denmark - October 11, 2014: fruits and vegetables stalls at market in Copenhagen. Customers are choosing goods for themselves. These stalls is located between market halls where one can find over 60 stands with everything from fresh fish and m

Denmark Might Be Winning The Global Race To Prevent Food Waste

4:54pm September 11, 2015

by Sidsel Overgaard

According to a recent report from the Danish government, Danes now throw away 25 percent less food than they did five years ago. Supermarkets are doing their part by selling older food at a discount.